Before you start

If your spreadsheet data has been imported from a third-party service (e.g. Google Analytics, Salesforce, Zendesk, etc.), check if we have a dedicated data source for it. They contain a comprehensive list of widgets with predefined KPIs, making things even easier for you.

Alternatively, if you’re looking for complete control over how your data is displayed, our Datasets API can send data from a database or third-party service to your dashboards.

Depending on where your Excel file is located, choose from the following options for instructions on how to connect it to Geckoboard:

In Geckoboard, hover your cursor over an empty area of your dashboard and click the + button.

Alternatively, click Add widget in the top right of your dashboard.

You'll see a scrollable list of data sources. Click Excel.

If you haven’t done so already, create a connection to link your Google Drive account with Geckoboard. From the Choose File menu. Once connected, select the spreadsheet you want to connect from the list.

Tip

After connecting to your Google Drive account, you may see the message: "there was an error fetching the list of spreadsheets". If so, you need to allow Google Drive permission to share data with Geckoboard.

To do this, open the Google Apps control panel and navigate to Apps > Google Apps > Settings for Drive, and make sure "Allow users to install Google Drive apps" in the "Data Access" menu is enabled.

Each time you make changes to your hosted .xlsx spreadsheet in OneDrive, those changes will automatically sync with Geckoboard through the generated link. You'll be able to see your changes on your dashboard when the widget refreshes (every 15 minutes).

To connect your Excel file via Sharepoint, follow these steps:

Make sure your file is an Excel .xlsx file, not a .csv.

In Geckoboard, hover your cursor over an empty area of your dashboard and click the + button.

Alternatively, click Add widget in the top right of your dashboard.

You'll see a scrollable list of data sources. Click Excel.

Return to your Excel file, using Share settings, make sure access is set to Anyone with the link can edit.

Click Copy Link.

When the Link copied message appears, copy the created link into our secure Sharepoint tool to prepare it for Geckoboard. Click ‘Get direct link’ to get an updated link.

Return to Geckoboard, in the Link to file field, paste the copied link to your hosted file. Our integration will do the rest.

Each time you make changes to your hosted .xlsx spreadsheet in Sharepoint, those changes will automatically sync with Geckoboard through the generated link. You'll be able to see your changes on your dashboard when the widget refreshes (every 15 minutes).

We don’t allow customers to upload a spreadsheet file directly from their desktop. This is because Geckoboard needs to periodically access your spreadsheet in order to push any changes to dashboard widgets powered by it.

Instead we recommend uploading your file to one of the cloud-based services listed above and following the instructions. If you don’t already have an account with one of these services, you may need to create it now in order to use them.

Note

The file size limit for uploaded spreadsheets is 5 MB.

If you're seeing the error message WARNING: This worksheet is too large to import and your .xlsx file is under the 5 MB upload limit, it's likely the compressed .xml files contained in it exceed the file limit.